It's Time For JBL To Go

It's time for JBL to go.

John Bradshaw Layfield has been the center of attention lately for all the wrong reasons. First, it was when Mauro Ranallo, who has bipolar disorder, was absent from several episodes of SmackDown, an absence he has yet to and more than likely never will return from. This absence was attributed to JBL bullying him, including mocking him for tweeting about winning Best Announcer from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Side note, JBL has won Worst Announcer twice. This apparently triggered Ranallo's bipolar disorder and caused him to become depressed, prompting him to take this leave of absence.

Second, it was when Justin Roberts' autobiography came out. The book made many described various incidents of JBL bullying him, including things like telling him to kill himself constantly, screaming at him no matter where he sat on a WWE tour bus, and even trying to violently enter his hotel room with Chris Benoit. Roberts also said that somebody stole his passport on a European tour. JBL denied this, tweeting "I didn't take Justin Roberts passport ... he was hated by the whole crew. He's an idiot." Roberts never said JBL did it, so he basically just implicated himself. On top of that, John Morrison/Johnny Mundo told Deadspin that JBL had told him & Joey Mercury to steal Roberts' passport. They considered it, considering they were being bullied too but decided not to.

These claims have prompted WWE fans to call for the JBL to be fired from the company. #FireJBL was tweeted nearly 500 times an hour at one point, and fans booed JBL and chanted "Fire Bradshaw" at the April 11th episode of SmackDown. Additionally, a fan holding up a sign reading "JBL BULLIED ME" was kicked out of the arena.

A lot of people want JBL out of WWE...and I'm one of them.

These aren't isolated incidents. JBL has a history of bullying, harassing, and even assaulting his co-workers in WWE. Take what he did to the Blue Meanie. At ECW One Night Stand 2005, JBL legitimately beat the piss out of the Meanie during a show-closing brawl between the ECW wrestlers and the RAW & SmackDown rosters. Everybody else was fine. Look what the Blue Meanie looked like after the brawl.

Or how about his constant hazing of the Miz, frequently throwing him out of the locker room and forcing him to change elsewhere, something he said he has no regrets doing in an interview. Or how about what he did to the Hardys, who insinuated that JBL stole their bags, clothes, and cash just because they wouldn't throw beer bottles at road signs while they were driving, something JBL told them to do. Also, there's the time JBL told them to damage Don Callis' (The Jackyl/Cyrus the Virus) car by breaking toothpicks off in the car's keyholes so he couldn't get in the car.

How about Renee Dupree, who says JBL made his last few years in WWE miserable by harassing & bullying him and firing off homophobic slurs at him. That might seem odd, considering how Edge wrote in his book that JBL went in the shower while he was showering and grabbed his ass. He's also grabbed Steve Blackmen's ass multiple times, who responded by punching JBL in the face after JBL ignored his warnings not to. On top of all that, Ivory has said that JBL would legitimately hurt new & young wrestlers in matches when the cameras weren't rolling. It goes beyond wrestlers too. The Wrestling Observer reported that JBL hazed referee Charles Robinson, who he dragged out to the arena without a shirt on, taped up & gagged. He also bullied referee Billy Silverman, who described things like being verbally abused & threatened with violence by JBL. Silverman ended up quitting, just like Palmer Cannon, who was also bullied by JBL before he quit mid-tour.

JBL is a bully. Always has been and apparently, always will be. He's 50 years old and still acts like he's in high school. WWE needs to fire him. Turning JBL into a babyface commentator and trying to pay Mauro Ranallo to not talk about it when his contract expires isn't going to fix anything. The mainstream media picked up this story, it's not going anywhere. WWE can't be allowing one of their employees to bully & harass their other employees one minute and then promote "Be a Star" and talk about how bullying is bad and needs to end.

It's time for JBL to go.